I remember sitting in my Career Development class last year and revisiting a topic that was very common in my business classes. No, it had nothing to do with useless accounting figures (no offense to accounting majors. You are all smarter than I am). Instead we discussed the importance of keeping a positive online presence.
People love to share their opinions. Because of social media that is more than a possibility. People will often share information on social media sites, whether it be their own profile or another person’s, that they would never dare do face to face. The problems that arise from this are a whole other topic that I will not touch on today.
Controlling our online presence can take serious discipline. Ironically enough, the blog “The Office Snitch” said, “Think about it. Here is someone with potentially sensitive information who believes they have been disengaged/insulted/mistreated (delete where appropriate) and has decided the best way to cool off is to broadcast their woes online. Even something as simple as ‘Can’t people tell I’ve only got two hands?!’ (I’ll admit I’ve tweeted that) can give the wrong impression.” As we seek to formulate our online presence into a positive representation of our best selves, we can often run into difficulty.
The New York Jets know this well.
Negative social media publicity can spell doom for you and your company if not handled correctly.
With the Jets’ recent acquisition in Tim Tebow, they have faced an unusual amount of negative social media. Living on the Jersey side of New York, I know that the Jets are not unaccustomed to negative publicity, but this seemed to tip the scales for them across the country.
As the news spread several people jumped on the “bash New York Jets” bandwagon. One the customers I worked with yesterday came in speaking about how much he disliked Rex Ryan. It is common in this Giants territory to think that the Jets organization is full of hoodlums and crazies. With a reputation consisting of fighting in the locker room and suspensions, maybe it isn’t unsubstantiated.
Even Joe Namath took to Facebook and began to share his negative opinion about the organization of which he used to champion. The Washington Post quoted him saying, “I don’t think they know what they’re doing over there right now. … I’m baffled. They’re kind of mixed up over there. I’m talking about the folks that are making the decisions. … Come on. This is crazy. I don’t know what it’s about. It appears the Jets are trying to grab headlines once again just by making noise.” This caused a Facebook media frenzy.
In addition, Andre Cromartie, a cornerback for the Jets tweeted, “We don’t need Tebow. We sell out every home game let him go to Jacksonville Tampa or Miami. Our wildcat offense can b ran by J. Kerley or Joe McKnight we straight.”
That was followed up by, “Y bring in Tebow when we need to bring in more Weapons for @Mark_Sanchez let’s build the team around him. We already signed to 3 year ext.” This also caused many people to respond, sending a negative Jets shockwave across the Twitterverse.
Tim-sanity is coming to New York... Whether we like it or not.
Whether this controversial trade pays off for the Jets or not is yet to be seen. However, there is something we can learn from this. The Gov Delivery Blog says, “Regardless of whether you are representing yourself, an agency, a company, a non-profit, or a campaign online, you will most likely encounter negative digital feedback. While you cannot control what the world puts in front of you, you can control how you respond.” The ability to formulate a correct response is something that many people go to school for. It’s called public relations. But that doesn’t mean that it isn’t important to know how to do it yourself.
The Dreamgrow blog categorized negative publicity into 3 situations. It’s a problem, a criticism, or a crisis depending on the amount and the intensity. Being able to respond quickly, openly and honestly can be a difference in whether the fire spreads or fizzles into oblivion. Also, overcoming the desire to lash out will save you heartache in the future. There isn’t a reason to take it personal because that will fuel the fire. Respond calmly and respectfully and you will find that the conversation will turn positive.
The Dreamgrow has some really phenomenal suggestions on their blog.
As the Jets assess the situation that has arisen as a result of bringing Tebow to New York. They will be working to stem the negative publicity that is flowing from many sources on Twitter and Facebook. Watch for these suggestions I have mentioned, because they will be there.
In the meantime, a little Tebow never hurt anybody… except all of those teams he beat on his miraculous run to the playoffs. Good luck to you sir!
Duly Noted 
Thank you so much for sharing exactly what I was thinking about the Tebow craze. When Richard told me that they all fussing over him, I just didn’t understand why they would. But your last paragraph summed it up for me. “A little Tebow never hurt anyone.”
I faced this very thing with one of the lastest posts I put on facebook,…some people don’t seem to understand that facebook is exactly that a “social” media.